Question

Describe the three major types of amino acids? explaining the general chemical characteristics of each type, the types of bonds or interactions that each type can form, and the location in a protein where you would expect to find each type (also consider that some proteins have regions that are embedded in the cell membrane)

Answer 1

1. Essential Amino Acids: are those amino acids that can’t be synthesized by the body and must be taken from some outside source. For example Histidine. It has a carboxylic acid group and an imidazole side chain. It can be found in protein histamine where it is a radical histidyl precursor.

2. Non-essential Amino Acids: are those that our body can easy synthesize mostly by Glucose metabolism. For example, Glutamic acid that is found in most protein structures of excitatory neurotransmitters.

3. Conditional Amino Acids: are non-essential except at times of need for example ornithine. It can be found in the processing of Urea cycle.